


Nursing Old Wounds Back to Health

by abd3532



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28306449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abd3532/pseuds/abd3532
Summary: As Allie Rubin, RN is on her way to work, a fire fight interrupts her and she embarks on a journey that will change her life. Along the way she'll fine incredible mentors in Agents Phil Coulson and Melinda May, great friends in Skye, Fitz, and Simmons, and maybe something more with Agent Grant Ward.
Relationships: Grant Ward/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Nursing Old Wounds Back to Health

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is my first pic. I don't own AoS or anything Marvel. This work is just a culmination of daydreaming and encouragement from friends. I'm not totally sure how much I'll write, but it's safe to assume that the overall plot line follows canon as close as possible with the introduction of the OFC. One thing of note, Skye is already a full-fledged agent at the beginning of this story. I'm totally sure where it fits, but it's definitely before the episode "The Well." I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think :)

Allie was on her way to work totally distracted from the outside world. As a nurse, she was working yet another twelve-hour shift which was routine to her at this point. The transferring of New York City subways, buses, and walking was also routine to her at this point after two years of working in the Upper East Side and living in Washington Heights. She had both earbuds in and was lost in her music. She knew this probably wasn’t the safest for a woman to be doing, walking alone with both earbuds in, but she knew that if, God forbid, someone tried to approach her, she could defend herself if need be. Tonight, however, this thought did not cross her mind. She was lost in thought about all the what ifs of her recently terminated engagement. She and Ephraim had been through so much, but she was finally able to admit to herself that she wasn’t in love with him and wanted more from life. He was perfect on paper. Kind, handsome, good job, nice Jewish family, he checked all of her boxes. He easily fell in love with her, and a childhood of trauma led her to believe that she should settle because he loved her, and really when was she going to meet anyone else who would love her? At least that’s what she told herself. Her therapist told her this wasn’t true, and she knew it wasn’t, but she just couldn’t internalize it. What if she tried a bit harder? What if she gave him more time and hadn’t gone back to finish her degree? What if she didn’t push herself so hard at work? What if? What if? What if?

Her thoughts rambled on in this vein for the majority of her commute until they were rudely interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Across the street, a scene was unfolding that she couldn’t process. Two men were firing at each other. One was masked and holding a black duffle bag. The other was a clean-looking agent type. He was wearing a black suit with a black tie. She paused a moment to notice how attractive this man was. It was rare for her to find men attractive, especially if they weren’t easily clockable as Jewish. But this man was an exception to this rule. He was tall, at least six feet, and from the other side of the street, she could tell that his cheek bones and jawlines would be considered lethal weapons in certain states. His body, though covered in a well-fitted suit, left little to the imagination in terms of his well-defined physique. She quickly pushed these thoughts into the back of her brain. In front of her eyes, she watched as he took a bullet to the left shoulder and simultaneously fired a shot which looked to be lethal to the masked man.

While the rest of the bystanders around did what was probably the smart thing of running the other way, Allie ran right to the masked man who was down on the ground. Upon feeling no pulse, she turned her attention to the man in the suit. He was standing, bent over, breathing heavily, holding onto the duffle he had grabbed from the other man. His white shirt now sported a rather large red stain around his left shoulder from where he was shot. She approached him.

“Hello, my name is Allie Rubin. I’m a nurse.”

“I don’t need your help,” he cut her off. “I’m fine, and my team is on their way now.”

“Judging by the amount of bleeding, I’m nervous they hit something important, so please just let me take a look. I promise I won’t call anyone. It’s just a safety measure so that when your team gets here, you’ll still be.”

He didn’t respond verbally. He just glared at her with deep eyes the color of whiskey and placed the duffle on the sidewalk. She took this gesture and his lack of protest as an invitation to get started.

She pulled out her medical kit from her bag and got to work. She undid the buttons of his shirt so that she could get better access to the wound. She couldn’t help but ogle over how physically fit this man was, but she willed herself to stay focused. She visualized the wound and saw the bullet still lodged inside. She was shocked that he was still conscious, able to speak, and not writhing in pain. She guessed that as an agent and from a handful of other scars she could see on his exposed skin, that this was not his first time getting shot. Using a pair of tweezers doused in alcohol, she extracted the bullet. Next, she had to suture the skin. Now, in her education as a nurse-midwife, she had learned about suturing the vaginal canal for lacerations after delivery, but she had never really been trained to sutured skin, but she figured it couldn’t be that different. She took out her suture kit and began to sew his wound closed. As she did this, a black SUV with an eagle insignia pulled up rather noisily next to them on the curb. Paying no mind to this, she continued her stitching as two men and two women emerged from the vehicle.

“Wow Ward, you give Simmons the hardest time when she wants to stitch you up and you know her, but you trust some random chick from the street to do it for you on the scene?” asked tauntingly one of the women who was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. She looked to be about Allie’s age. Allie would never have pegged her for an agent except for the badge she wore proudly on a lanyard around her neck.

“Piss off, Skye,” replied the man receiving her care. Allie figured that he must be “Ward,” and the woman who spoke must be “Skye.”

The younger of the two men quickly jumped towards the duffle Ward had left on the sidewalk. Using a variety of complex-looking gadgets, he analyzed the contents before opening it and storing the contents in some special looking container.

All the while, she continued suturing Ward’s wound. She figured that these names must be codenames because why would agents be using their real names? She pushed that thought aside and finished stitching. After, as she was grabbing a wound dressing from the kit, the other woman broke her focus.

“Could you please let me have a look?” She asked in a distinctly British accent. “What exactly are your qualifications to be doing this?”

Allie stopped and looked at the British woman and introduced herself. “Hi, my name is Allie Rubin, and I’m a nurse practitioner. I saw him get shot and I had to do something to stop the bleeding. I do still think he should get to a hospital.”

The British woman looked at her and confidently replied, “Oh he doesn’t need one. We can take care of anything additional he might need.”

Allie didn’t have what to say, so she turned her attention back to the man who might be named “Ward” to finish dressing his wound. As she finished, their eyes met again, but this time his eyes were full of an emotion she couldn’t quite place. Curiosity or wonder maybe. She was often quite competent in reading other people’s emotions no matter how hard they tried to hide them. Her life experiences as well as being a nurse allowed her to foster a strong sense of awareness. This made her a real asset because she had a knack for knowing if people were telling the truth, which often came in handy when working in the hospital.

They continued to stare into each other’s eyes for a second more before he broke, and smiled saying, “Thank you, Allie.”

“Of course,” she replied simply as she stood to go.

The older man who had yet to say anything stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

She immediately flinched away from the gesture. As a religious Jewish woman, she did not make physical contact with men. It was acceptable for medical reasons, which is why she had no issue helping Ward, but the unexpected touch from this other man made her uncomfortable.

Sensing this discomfort, the older man smiled and flashed his badge, “Sorry about that. I’m Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD. Thank you, Allie, for helping out Agent Ward here.” She knew SHIELD - following the Battle of New York, she had volunteered as emergency medical personnel to help the wounded and was sworn to secrecy about it. He continued, “Did you see you what happened before Agent Ward, here, was shot?”

Without waiting for a response, he added, “Would you please come with us so that we can ask a few more questions?”

Allie wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Yes, she had been there and would be happy to answer their questions, but she worried about not being able to get to work. Her unit was already understaffed, and she hated the idea of contributing to furthering this.

Sensing her hesitation, Agent Coulson said, “If your concern is work-related, don’t worry. We already called your manager to let them know that you won’t be able to make it to your shift tonight.”

_What? How could they possibly know where I work, and that I was supposed to work tonight?_ She thought. She didn’t let this confusion show on her face. This was another skill she had picked up during her life – not showing emotion. It was useful when dealing with difficult patients or having to deliver heart-wrenching news. She knew that she was going to have to go with them at this point, and honestly, was quite excited about it. Her life had seemed so monotonous lately, especially after the drama of ending her engagement had subsided.

She simply nodded her head as Agent Coulson opened the door to the SUV for her. Agent Ward moved into the front seat without any sign that he had just been shot. She was rather impressed. She had an unusually high pain tolerance and a history of masking any that did bother her, but this man had just been shot and looked like he was ready to run a marathon. Agent Coulson took the driver’s seat while the agent she knew as Skye sat next to her, and the other two agents whose names she didn’t catch sat behind them.

Conversation during the drive was sparse. She ascertained that the agent sitting next to her was, in fact, named Skye. “Just Skye, no last name, like Madonna,” she had said. She seemed great, like a person Allie could get along really well with if given the circumstance. She found herself longing for Skye’s presence in her life, even though she knew that within a few hours, she would probably never see her again. The two agents in the back were scientists. The woman, who had questioned Allie’s qualifications, was Jemma Simmons, an English biochemist, and the younger man was Leopold Fitz, a Scottish engineer. Together, Skye referred to them as the “Science Twins” or as one unit “FitzSimmons.” Even though they had just met and had not exchanged more than a few words with each other, there was already a sense of comradery that Allie hoped was not one-sided.

Even Agent Coulson joined in for some of the joking. Allie could tell that there was a sibling-like vibe between Skye, Fitz, and Simmons, and an almost paternal relationship between them and Agent Coulson.

Agent Ward, however, remained silent for the entire drive to the airfield. She had learned that his name was Grant Ward, and he was a specialist. Allie wasn’t quite sure where he fit into this team’s whole family dynamic. Maybe the moody older brother. She smiled to herself as she imagined this. Then her thoughts turned more inward. Where would she fit into this family? Could she? As ridiculous as it seemed, she really hoped that this could lead to an opportunity to work with SHIELD. Though nursing was her first love, the idea of espionage had always appealed to her. She never considered it seriously, but this may present an opportunity which could be perfect for her and fill the void of monotony which her life seemed to have become.

As they pulled up to the airfield, she reigned her imagination back in. They weren’t going to offer her a position. It was ridiculous to even think that. Yet, a girl can always dream. It would be incredible to get away from her life and help this team out, but she understood these were unrealistic expectations. Sitting on the tarmac was a massive plane with a ramp down in the back.

“Welcome to the BUS!” exclaimed Fitz.

Agent Coulson drove the car right up the ramp into the plane’s cargo hold. Next to the SUV was parked a cherry-red, 1962 Corvette. Fitz informed her that that the car was Agent Coulson’s, it was a “she,” and her name was Lola. Allie ignored the immediate thought at how ridiculous men were with their cars. In front of the cars was a lab which appeared to have a large number of high-tech gadgets for God knows what, but she imagined that Fitz and Simmons spent the bulk of their time in here.

“Come upstairs. It’s much homier up there,” Skye told her indicating towards the spiral staircase which led upwards. She eagerly followed the agent with Fitz and Agent Coulson on her tail. Simmons led Agent Ward into the lab where, Allie supposed, she would ensure that Allie’s patch-up job was acceptable.

Allie froze as she saw the upstairs. She almost forgot that she was on a plane. It was so luxurious and well-furnished. There was a sitting area with couches, tables with chairs, pods she assumed were bunk beds, and a command center complete with advanced computers and a table with a built-in display. As she was taking in her surroundings, Coulson smiled and said, “Yea, this was a gift from the higher ups. Now, follow me and we’ll ask you a few questions.

He ushered her over to the command center. Standing at the table was a middle-aged, Asian woman who did not look up as she, a stranger, walked up to the table. Agent Coulson introduced her, “This is Agent Melinda May. This is Allie Rubin, a nurse who witnessed the end of Ward’s mission and helped stitch him up in the field. I think it could be helpful for us to have an actual, certified medical professional on our team. She’s worked with SHIELD before, so we know we can trust her. Did you get the file I sent you? What do you think?”

Allie could not believe what she had just heard. She thought she was being brought here for an interrogation. Were they really offering her a position on the team? Why did they want her? Clearly, this had to be a mistake. There must be million medical professionals more qualified than her. But she decided she wasn’t going to question this. She found herself waiting with bated breath for Agent May’s response.

Agent May did a once over of her which made Allie feel incredibly self-conscious. She was dressed in scrubs, a black shell to cover her arms and chest, sneakers, and her long brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun. This was perfectly acceptable attire for work, but she found herself feeling underdressed for the current situation. Agent May’s eyes were inquisitive, and her mouth was pulled into a thin line. Allie found it difficult to read her emotions.

Finally, after what felt like hours and was in fact not even a minute, Agent May turned her attention to Agent Coulson and nodded. “I agree that we could use another skilled medical professional, but I worry about adding another member to this team who is not cleared for combat.”

“She regularly practices kickboxing and has taken several self-defense courses,” Coulson replied.

“That hardly counts as combat training,” May retorted betraying no emotion in her voice.

Before Agent Coulson had a chance to reply, a notification from the computer system drew the agents’ attention away from Allie. She drew in a breath but was careful to keep her face blank. The notification alerted them that there was an unconfirmed “0-8-4” in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn reported by a woman named Blimi Teitelbaum. Allie wasn’t sure what that meant, but she immediately recognized that the woman was more than likely Jewish. She smiled to herself feeling a sense of comradery with this woman she had never met.

Skye, Fitz, Simmons, and Agent Ward all gathered with Agents Coulson and May in the command center. Allie noticed that Agent Ward had changed into a heather gray t-shirt and jeans. She also paused to notice how godly his arms looked in short sleeves but quickly banished this thought to the back of her mind. She stood there awkwardly listening as Agent Coulson described the mission parameters to the team. She gathered that an “0-8-4” meant that they didn’t know what it was and neither did she. She saw the humor in this and smiled to herself. The plan was simple enough: Agents Ward and Coulson would go in to meet Teitelbaum and prepare her for what would happen next, then Fitz and Simmons would come and analyze the object before removing it to take it into SHIELD custody to be dealt with later. Allie wasn’t sure what possessed her to speak, but she would eventually be glad that she spoke up.

“Excuse me, but do any of you speak Yiddish?”

“No. Do you think that’s important that we have someone accompany us who speaks the language?” Asked Agent Coulson.

“Yes, I think it would be. Given her name and where she lives, I’m sure she’s a chasidishe woman, and there’s a chance she doesn’t really speak English. Also, if she is a chasidishe woman, then she’s not going to be comfortable speaking with two men, so I think that it is best to send at least one woman to greet her.”

“I suppose we could radio to HQ and see if there are any female Yiddish interpreters we could ask to help on this mission,” he said to no one in particular. Agent Coulson and Ward eyed each other but said nothing.

After a few seconds, Allie tentatively added, “I know that I’m not a SHIELD agent, but I am an Orthodox Jewish woman who speaks Yiddish and would be happy to help out with this mission, if you need.”

As soon as she said it, Allie couldn’t help but show the embarrassment on her face. What was she thinking? They hadn’t even offered her a position on the team yet. And even if she was to be a member on this team, it seemed they only required her medical skills. While lost in her own thoughts, she almost missed the smile on Skye’s face and that the corners of Agent May’s lips had gone up just a smidge.

After about a minute of consideration by the team, the silence was finally broken. “Sir, with all due respect, I think that she could be a good asset on this mission,” Agent Ward asserted. “She’s right. Understanding the linguistic and cultural nuances could prove beneficial.”

She was shocked that Agent Ward had said that many words, and he was supporting her. She couldn’t help but grin.

“I agree, so why don’t you and Allie act as a welcome wagon, and Fitz and Simmons will follow afterwards. May, Skye, and I will stay here as your eyes in ears in case anything goes wrong.”

She was so excited and nervous and feeling so many emotions she couldn’t place. She was going to be helping out on a SHIELD mission. Her heart was racing at a mile a minute, and she was sure that everyone around her could hear it.

“All right. Ward, why don’t you and Allie go down to the cargo hold so you can review some basic training before going to the field,” suggested Agent Coulson.

“Sorry, sir, but would it be possible to stop by my apartment so that I can grab clothes so that I can look more the part?” Allie asked.

“Sure, go with Ward to review a few things, then Ward, stop at Allie’s apartment before going to Williamsburg. You should also pack some things if you plan on staying with us. I’ll send you the addresses,” replied Agent Coulson.

Allie wasn’t sure how exactly he had her address, but honestly, she wasn’t surprised after realizing that they knew where she worked and that she was supposed to have worked today. She also was feeling giddy knowing that they wanted her to stay. Ward nodded before gesturing for Allie to follow him back down the stairs.

In the space between the cars and the lab doors, Ward pulled out a mat and laid it on the floor. He beckoned Allie to join him before speaking.

“Do you have any experience with combat?”

“Um, kind of. I have practiced kickboxing three times a week for the past few years. I’ve also taken a number of self-defense courses and did karate through high school.”

Ward had an emotionless mask on his face and said nothing, so she continued.

“I don’t think I’d be able to take someone like you, a trained agent, but it has served me in the few times that a man has inappropriately approached me on the street.”

This caught Ward’s attention. His eyes widened slightly, but he quickly replaced the mask. He thought for a few moments before speaking.

“If someone held you at gun point, do you feel comfortable taking the gun from them and taking them down?”

She nodded affirmatively. This was one thing that she had learned again and again in her self-defense courses.

“Ok, show me.”

He went over to a drawer against the wall and grabbed a piece of plastic shaped like a handgun. He reapproached her and held the gun out to her.

She recalled her training. She quickly and calmly approached Ward skillfully grabbing his wrist, knocking the fake gun out of his hand, and spinning in his arms to land an elbow into his face before kicking out his knee so that he was forced to kneel. She then took a step back with the fake gun pointing at him.

While the act had been something that she had practiced dozens of times in class, though, thankfully never for real, this time felt oddly intimate. Maybe it was because she was reviewing the technique with an incredibly handsome and capable SHIELD agent. Who was she kidding? Of course, it was that. Agent Ward was one fine specimen of a man, but he hadn’t demonstrated enough personality or emotion for Allie to get an accurate reading on him. He seemed dangerous, but for some reason, Allie knew that this would be a slippery road to walk interacting with him. She had plenty of experience with catching feelings for the wrong men, and she was nervous this would happen again if she wasn’t careful. _He’s not Jewish. Period. End of story._ She thought to herself, but she had a creeping feeling that this was nowhere near the end of this story.

Ward looked up at her with an approving look in his eyes. “All right. Do you feel ready? There shouldn’t be any need for combat skills on this mission, but you seem comfortable defending yourself should the need arise. We’ll go in, speak with the woman, convince her to let us help her out, and then FitzSimmons will take it from there. Questions?”

“Nope. Just please let me do the speaking. It’ll be a lot easier woman to woman.”

“I trust you.”

“I have a feeling you don’t, but that’s ok. You can trust me. I have no other agenda.” She was feeling bold.

“Let me rephrase- I trust that you know Orthodox Jews better than I do.”

With that, he excused himself to go change into another suit. When he came back, Fitz and Simmons joined them, and they walked towards the black SUV. He held open the passenger side door for her and shut it once she sat and walked to the driver’s side and got in. The small gesture was so chivalrous and unexpected, but Allie stopped herself before she gave herself the chance to overthink anything and read into signs that weren’t there.

They spent most of the almost hour-long drive in silence. Allie stared out of the window watching as trees were replaced by the familiar urban sprawl of New York City. She was not from New York, but she knew that she had always been a New Yorker at heart. She stole occasional glances at her new companion. Partner seemed to be the wrong word, but she supposed that was what they were given her new status as a member of the team. At this thought, she suddenly felt bold.

“Are you Jewish, Agent Ward?” She could not believe that she just asked that. Hopefully, he couldn’t sense her ulterior motives for wanting to know the answer to this question, and thankfully, Fitz nor Simmons seemed to have noticed from the back seat.

“No, I was raised in a Christian home, but I don’t practice.”

She nodded, surprised that he had volunteered this information. Without any hesitation, she continued, “There a few things you should know in general when interacting with Orthodox Jews. First, gender segregation intensifies the more religious a person is. Men and women often don’t make physical contact, and sometimes they won’t even talk to each other. That’s why I said that I should do the talking with Teitelbaum.”

“How do you know all of this?” Ward asked curiously.

“I’m a Modern Orthodox Jewish woman,” replied Allie confidently.

“What does modern mean? That you touch men?” He asked with the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

“That’s a great question which the Modern Orthodox movement continues to struggle with. For me, it means that Jewish law is important to me, but so is living in and embracing the modern world. And I don’t normally touch men. You must be special or something.” She bit her tongue as soon as she said those words. How could she be so clumsy around this man?

He gave her a sideways glance.

“I mean that under normal circumstances, I don’t make any physical contact with men unless it’s for a medical purpose or something.”

He nodded silently. She wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking, but she was embarrassed, nevertheless. She took this as an opportunity to continue.

“I feel like there’s not much more that is totally relevant for now. Just follow my lead, ok?”

“Got it. Don’t talk to women. Follow your lead.” He smirked. “But you talk to men?”

“Again, ‘Modern’ Orthodox. There was a point in college when I didn’t talk to men and while it felt right at the time, I’m glad I got over that.”

“Huh, I guess I never really thought about that before,” he muttered more to himself than to her. With that, they resumed silence for the last ten minutes of the car ride to her apartment. He parked on the street and raced out of the car to open the door for her. Again, this gesture was so out of place and pleasant, and again she had to stop herself from overthinking it.

“It’s ten thirty, so my roommates probably won’t be home, but let me go in first just to make sure.”

He nodded. She took her keys, unlocked the front door which he grabbed to let her go in first. _Again, with the chivalrous gestures!_ She thought to herself. _This man is going to be the death of me_.

“FitzSimmons, wait here,” he ordered the Scientists in back.

Together, they walked up four flights of stairs to her apartment. She unlocked the door and after double checking that all of her roommates were at work, she invited him in. Her apartment was small but cozy. Upon walking in was a nice-sized room with two sofas, beside a dining room table which could comfortably seat eight, and a kitchen in which Allie and her roommates spent much time cooking and baking. There were four bedrooms and a bathroom shared by four women. The place had a homey vibe. Allie had lived here for over two years since graduating college. She lived here with three of her closest friends. Together, this was a space of gathering of friends and family. She had a feeling that she wouldn’t get a chance to see it again for a while given her new adventure. She paused in her thoughts when she noticed Ward go to lock the door.

“Wait a sec,” she called striding across the room to prevent him from locking the door. “Leave it open.”

“Are you sure? Do you often leave your door unlocked?” Ward asked confused.

“It’s just because it’s only us here. A man and a woman can’t be alone in a room together,” she explained, but he still looked confused.

“Yichud is a Jewish concept – an unmarried woman like myself cannot be alone in a room with a man because it may lead to… you know…” She found that she couldn’t finish her sentence. Allie spent much of her time at work talking about sex, and she had even made it a personal initiative to discuss sex and sexuality with her fellow Orthodox Jewish women, but for some reason, talking about sex with Agent Grant Ward felt wrong and uncomfortable. She silently hoped he understood what she meant.

He simply nodded in understanding and proceeded to walk further into the apartment. She walked into her bedroom to change. From the closed door, she heard, “What did you want to grab?”

“I just wanted to change my outfit and pack a bag.” She stripped from her scrubs and pulled on a pair of black tights, a midcalf black skirt, an ivory shell, and a black and white striped sweater. She let her hair fall from the tie only to immediately pull it back up into a tighter bun lower down on her head. She traded her sneakers for a pair of black flats. She did a quick onceover in the mirror remarking on how she felt that she had transformed back into the significantly more observant version of herself she had been in college. Into a duffle bag, she hastily threw a few skirts, a few tops, underwear, sleepwear, a workout outfit and shoes, her medications, a few books including her prayer book, and a few assorted toiletries. She walked out of her room to find Agent Ward inquisitively perusing the shelves full of Jewish texts.

He sensed her presence, and without turning around, asked “What are these?”

“They’re a bunch of books of Jewish texts. There are different parts of the Bible and different rabbinic texts, commentaries, and lawbooks.”

“And they’re in Hebrew? Or Yiddish?”

“None of them are in Yiddish,” she replied. “Most of these are in Hebrew, but these are in Aramaic,” she continued gesturing to a set of well-bound, tall, brown books.

“And you can understand them?”

“For the most part,” she answered. “I’m fluent in Modern Hebrew, but Biblical Hebrew is a little different. And then Aramaic is a totally different language, but I can kind of manage.”

“Interesting,” was all said in response. “Ready to go?”

“Yup. Now I’m dressed the part,” she smiled.

“All right then. Let’s go.”

The drive to Williamsburg was uneventful. It only took about half an hour which again was spent vastly in silence. Allie thought about trying to begin a conversation with the agent to her left, but ultimately, she decided not to. Where would she have started? Would he have even responded? She was having a difficult time reading him. Was he upset about having to work with her? Happy? Indifferent? She wished she could read his mind, or that he would at least show some fraction of emotion to go off of.

They pulled up and parked outside of an unassuming apartment building. Before exiting the vehicle, he explained to Fitz and Simmons to wait until he called them to come up. He then got out and went around the car to open her door. At this point, she had rationalized that Agent Ward was just the last chivalrous man left on the planet, and it wasn’t because he thought of her any differently than any other woman in his life. _Maybe he has a girlfriend. Or a wife. Maybe he’s gay._ She also had a higher-than-average gaydar from life experience and thus did not think this was the case, but one never knows.

He held open the door to the building for her before entering after her. They efficiently walked up three flights of stairs to the Teitelbaums’ apartment. Ward knocked on the door.

An older woman opened the door. She wore a midcalf coffee-colored skirt, thick beige tights, an orange cardigan over a white blouse, and a shoulder-length dark black wig. She smiled at Allie and did not pay Ward much mind.

“ _Hello, my name is Allie Rubin, and this is my partner, Agent Grant Ward. We’re with SHIELD_ ,” she introduced herself and Ward in Yiddish.

“ _Hello, pleased to meet you. Please come in_ ,” the woman responded. “ _My name is Blimi Teitelbaum, which you of course already knew._ ” She then smiled and ushered them to sit on a beige sofa which blended into the beiges, creams, and whites of the apartment décor.

Allie snuck a gaze at Ward who was meeting her eyes. For a fraction of a moment, she could see that he was impressed.

“ _Mrs. Teitelbaum, we heard that you and your husband found something strange while on the street and you brought it back home._ ” She waited for the woman’s nod before continuing, “ _Could you please describe it to us?”_

“ _To be honest, I’m really not sure_ ,” she began. “ _It was shiny and glowed a reddish color._ ”

“ _Would it be possible for a few of our teammates to come and assess it?_ ” Allie asked.

“ _Of course, of course, please come! How many are there? I’ll put out something to eat_.”

“ _We’re really all set, thank you._ ” Allie looked to Ward and nodded meaning that FitzSimmons could come up to begin their part of the job. He got up from the couch and stepped away to call to Fitz and Simmons to come upstairs.

While he was up, Mrs. Teitelbaum caught Allie off guard with an unexpected line of inquiry.

“ _So how long have you two been together?_ ”

Allie felt a wide array of emotions: she was shocked and embarrassed by the question, grateful Ward didn’t understand Yiddish, and confused to how this woman had come to this conclusion.

“ _Oh, we’re not._ _In fact, I only met him this morning._ ”

“ _No way! I can tell he’s already fallen for you, and you’re not far behind._ ”

Allie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was she close to falling for him? Possibly, but she didn’t believe for a minute that it could ever be reciprocated. Could it?

Sensing her disbelief, Mrs. Teitelbaum continued, “ _You are both two beautiful people. By the way he looks at you, it is clear that he cares for you. He may not realize it yet, but you’ll see._ ”

At this point, Ward had returned to sit back down. Allie was mortified.

“ _But he’s not Jewish_ ,” Allie protested.

_“But at least your children will be._ ”

_What? She can’t possibly be serious!_ Thought Allie.

“ _But I can’t marry a non-Jewish man. I may not be a chasidishe woman, but Jewish law is still incredibly important to me._ ”

“ _Maybe he’ll convert,_ ” she winked.

Allie could not believe this conversation. Ward sat silently next to her trying and failing to follow along with the conversation. In her state of shock, she hadn’t even noticed Fitz and Simmons enter to begin working.

“ _So, you are a religious Jewish woman working with a bunch of non-Jews?_ ” she asked Allie.

“ _Yes._ ”

“ _Stay here._ ” Without another word, Mrs. Teitelbaum stood and walked over to her kitchen.

Allie sat in her place on the couch as Ward got up to go investigate the process Fitz and Simmons had made. She sat replaying the conversation over and over again in her head. It just wasn’t possible that Ward could feel the same way about her. She wasn’t even sure how she felt about him. How could this woman who knew him effectively for the same amount of time make a call like that?

After a few minutes of this thought process, Mrs. Teitelbaum returned from the kitchen with a bag full of a collection of small aluminum containers.

“ _Here, so that you don’t have to worry about cooking if you’re living with the non-Jews. It can all be frozen. Everything is double-wrapped and ready to heat when you’re ready. There’s a mix of meat and dairy meals, each labeled appropriately, but you know how to contact me if you have any questions,_ ” she explained with a smile as she placed enough food to last Allie months in her lap.

“ _Oh my gosh! You’re too kind! I can’t accept all of this,_ ” Allie protested knowing fully well that there was no way she was going to be able to leave this apartment without all of this food.

“ _No, no, I insist!_ ”

Allie opened her mouth to respond, but as if on cue, Ward, Fitz, and Simmons approached with a similar container to the one she had seen earlier in the day.

“Could you please tell Mrs. Teitelbaum that we are all set here. We’re going to have to take the object for further testing?” Ward asked her.

“Ok, no need. Thank you,” Mrs. Teitelbaum responded in heavily-accented English.

“ _Thank you so much for all of this_ ,” Allie continued in Yiddish. “ _I really appreciate all of this!_ ”

“ _It’s nothing! It is my pleasure!_ ” Mrs. Teitelbaum responded, ushering the group out of the door before looking at Allie and saying, “ _Good luck with him. I’m sure it won’t be easy, but God willing it will all work out for you._ ”

Allie smiled as Mrs. Teitelbaum shut the door behind her. The team walked downstairs.

“What have you got there?” inquired Fitz to her.

“Oh, nothing. Mrs. Teitelbaum just wanted to ensure that I would have enough to eat.”

“So, it’s food?”

“Yup.”

“Are you going to share?”

“I suppose I could, but it’s kosher food, because I can’t eat anything else.”

“Oh, because our food isn’t good enough?”

“I guess you could say that,” she grinned. The rest of the team reciprocated the gesture, and she knew that this was going to be a good time.

The drive back to the airfield was uneventful. When they arrived back at the plane, Agent May had the plane up in the air within minutes on a course to a place called the Sandbox, which apparently was a science and technology center SHIELD operated out of somewhere in West Africa.

She was sitting in her new bunk marveling out the window when she was disturbed by a knock on her door. Standing there was Ward wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” he started.

“Nope, just lost in the clouds,” she smiled.

“Hey, I just wanted to thank you for your help on the mission today. Nice work. Your language and people skills really came in handy.”

“It was nothing. I learned Yiddish back in college but never really had a chance to use it, so it was nice,” she shrugged.

“Hey, listen, if you ever want to work on your combat skills, I could help if you’d like,” he said hesitantly.

“Oh, yea, sure, that would be great,” she responded with a nod.

“Great. I’ll meet you in the cargo hold tomorrow morning at six.”

“Ah, sure, see you there.”

He took off with what Allie would describe as a hint of a smile, but she couldn’t really be sure. There were a few things of which she was sure, though. First, he had appreciated her presence today, which in her mind meant that there was a chance they would get to work together again. Second, they were definitely going to be spending more time together because he was going to train her. She was not so happy about such an early wake-up, but she guessed that it would all be worth it in the end. Last, she could no longer deny that there were feelings there that probably she should not be feeling. Maybe it was the conversation with Mrs. Teitelbaum, or maybe it was their chemistry of working well together, but Allie was falling for him fast.

She was interrupted from her thought process when a loud notification went off from the command center. The team was needed to assist in an ongoing investigation into a string of thefts in Hanoi, Vietnam.

As Agent Coulson continued on about the specifics of the mission, Allie listened carefully holding onto every word.

“Sir, if I may, do any of you speak Vietnamese? I think that it would be beneficial to have someone who can converse with the locals in their native language,” she suggested.

“Do you speak Vietnamese, too?” Skye asked not bothering to hide the shock in her voice.

“Among others, yes,” Allie tried to answer as modestly as possible. For some reason she could never quite understand, she was shy in revealing the languages which she could speak fluently. All the while, Fitz, Simmons, and Skye all smiled at her. Even Ward’s lips were upturned at the corners.

“Awesome,” Agent Coulson said. “In case anyone hasn’t said it yet, welcome to the team!”


End file.
